Too Late
by jellybean96
Summary: If only he had said something. If only he didn't let her go. Maybe things would be different. He knows it's too late for that now. But he has to tell her. He has to.


**So, this idea came to me after watching Tuesday's episode. Holy crap, it was amazing. I freaking love Fitz so much, he's such a precious baby and I felt so bad for him a few different times. I just wanted to jump into the screen and hug him a lot. **

**But anyways, the idea for this came to me after seeing the end scene with FitzSimmons on the plane and stuff. When they were briefly talking about Tripp. So yeah. I hope you enjoy. **

**Also, if you're interested, I uploaded a video to my YouTube channel. It's a video of me and my sisters' reactions during the entirety of the new episode. It's about an hour long, so if you want to watch it, go ahead. It's called, "Agents of SHIELD, 1x19 'The Only Light in the Darkness' – Live Reactions". My youtube channel is **_**gillkat96**_**. So go check it out if you wanna. **

**Now it's story time!**

* * *

_"You know how I can be. I hate change." _

Looking back, he wishes he would have told her.  
He wishes he would have said something. Anything.  
Then maybe he wouldn't be where he is right now.  
Staring down at a piece of paper.  
A very important piece of paper.  
An invitation.  
To her wedding.  
Jemma's wedding.  
Jemma's wedding to Triplett.

He still can't believe that it's actually happening, that she's really marrying that man.  
Though he can't really say he's surprised, considering how close the two had gotten while dealing with the HYDRA takeover.  
They got even closer during the aftermath.  
He blames himself partly.  
He didn't do anything to keep her.  
He just let her get close to that other man, he pushed her away.

He wishes he hadn't.  
If he hadn't, maybe she'd still be by his side in the lab.  
The lab at the Hub.  
Well, what they had managed to salvage and rebuild of the Hub.  
He works there now, helping to develop new technology.  
He also works in the field too on occasion, having been officially cleared for field duty a few years ago.

He wishes he could work with the team again.  
But he knows that isn't possible.  
They aren't a team anymore.  
Coulson is basically running SHIELD now, because Fury still remains in hiding, and Hill doesn't exactly want to return either.  
May is doing her own thing, working solo missions on a day to day basis.  
Ward is trying to prove himself. He's in a rehabilitation center, because he wants to earn back his place with SHIELD.  
Skye is the best computer specialist that SHIELD has. She's always helping out other agents with things, as well as teaching an advanced computer class at the Academy three days out of the week. She visits Ward during her free time.  
Simmons is with Tripplet at the Triskellion. She works in the lab there, while Tripplet goes on assignments. She helps run the back end on most of his missions.  
The two became inseparable.

He doesn't like that. Because that used to be him and Jemma.  
They used to be the inseparable pair.  
Where you found one, the other wouldn't be too far behind.  
That's all over now.

That much is clear as he stares down at the paper.  
As he stares down at their names.  
Their names are written in nice, cursive writing, announcing their upcoming nuptials.  
He knew this was coming.  
For the last three years, he knew it was coming.

"Hey Fitz."  
He looks up from his work to see Skye entering the lab.  
She often visits him from time to time to keep him a bit more sane.  
"Hey Skye," he says back.  
He watches as she jumps up onto the bench he's working on and sits down.  
"What are you working on?" She asks him, gesturing to the device in front of him.  
"Oh, it's a new delivery mechanism. Based off of that alien technology we found on a mission last week." He admires his work so far.  
"Cool," she says to him.  
He keeps working on his device as Skye watches him.  
This is how their visits often work. He works while she sits and watches him.  
Neither of them mind. They both enjoy the others' company.  
She's like the little sister he never had.  
"So," she begins to says, "I have some news."  
"Yes?" He doesn't look up from his work.  
"Grant's being released from rehabilitation today."  
He stops his work and looks up to see her fidgeting.  
"Are you happy?" He asks her.  
She looks back up at him, "I don't know. I mean, he's done his time. And I'm glad that I'll actually be able to see him more."  
"But?" He prods.  
"But I'm worried. What if, while he's out, he flips a switch all of a sudden and turns on SHIELD again?"  
Sighing, he moves to stand in front of her, "Skye, listen to me. Ward loves you. He knows that, you know that, heck, pretty much everyone in the agency knows that." She smiles softly at that. Because it's true.  
"You Skye, you are basically the sole reason he was able to be saved. You kept him going whenever he lost hope that he could be saved. Because of you, we've got him back. And because he loves you so much, that isn't ever going to change."  
She smiles at Fitz, tears in her eyes, "Thanks Fitz. I really needed to hear that."  
"Anytime," he smiles back. "Now wipe those tears off your face, you have a man to go see later. Can't be looking upset, now can you?"  
She laughs a little, "You're right." She wipes the tears from her face and then jumps off of the table, taking a few stacks of papers down with her. "Oops," she says.  
She bends down to pick up the papers when a single one catches her eye.  
She stands back up with the paper in her hand, "I see you got one too." She says to him, setting the papers back on the table.  
He nods his head sadly, "I just can't really believe she's marrying him."  
"I can."  
He looks at her, shocked, "What? How could you say that?"  
"Seriously Fitz? It's been obvious for years now that Jemma loves Tripp. You have to have seen that coming."  
"I always knew that Jemma would get married someday..." Fitz says, dragging off the end of his sentence.  
"You just hoped it would be to you," Skye finishes, knowing where he was going with his train of thought. She sighs, "Do you want the truth, Fitz?"  
"I don't know."  
"Well I'm going to tell it to you anyways. In all honestly, the minute that I saw Jemma and Tripp, I knew that they felt something for each other. But I also knew that you and Jemma had this special connection. Deep down, you both hoped that it would develop into something more, but neither of you acted on those feelings. It's not just your fault alone, it's partially Jemma's. Though, if you didn't like the idea of her with Tripp, you should have said something. That's on you. And I know that you are probably debating whether or not to go to the wedding, because you don't know if you'll be able to handle it, but you should. You need to go and support your friend. At least give her that. Now, I have to go and get things ready to see Grant this afternoon. You know where to find me." And with that, she presses a friendly kiss to his cheek and walks out of the lab.

As he watches her leave he thinks.  
He thinks about what she said.  
Maybe she's right...  
Of course she is.  
He knows he should go.  
Deep down he knows.  
He picks up the invitation again and looks at it.  
He sighs.  
He debates going or not.  
Then he decides.  
He's going.

The ceremony is beautiful.  
Everything is so calm and serene.  
He'll admit that Tripp looks somewhat nice.  
But he thinks that Jemma looks far more amazing.  
How could she not, though?  
It is her special day after all.  
He watches as she and Tripp say their vows.  
They promise to always protect and be there for each other.  
They promise to always be loyal to one another.  
They promise to always love each other.  
He almost gets up and walks away.  
But he doesn't want to hurt her.  
He can't.  
She means too much to him to do that to her.

After the ceremony is the reception.  
It's a fun gathering of everyone who was at the ceremony.  
He sees Coulson there.  
He's talking with May, and surprisingly, Hill.  
He sees Skye.  
She's there with Ward, hardly leaving his side, in case someone decides to harass him about his past.  
He can tell that they're in a good place in their relationship.  
He wishes he could have the same.

"Leo."  
He turns around from where he is standing at the drink table to see the owner of the voice.  
Jemma's dad.  
"Mr. Simmons," he replies.  
"Son," the older man says placing a hand on Leo's shoulder, "how long have I known you? How many times have I told you to call me Jeff?"  
"Of course," Leo smiles, "I'm sorry, Jeff."  
"Nothing to be sorry about, Leo," Jeff tells him with a smile, "I'm just happy to see you here. I'm sure that Jemma will be happy to see you as well."  
"I don't know, Jeff," Leo sighs, "I mean, her and I, we've kind of grown apart. Started doing our own thing."  
"I've noticed," Jeff points out, "I remember when you two first met. You were over all the time. Heck, there were a few occasions that I thought you never even left." He chuckles. "But now we hardly ever see you, son."  
"I know," Leo replies, "I really have meant to come and visit you and Martha. But unfortunately, the lab has been keeping me pretty busy."  
"I understand," Jeff tells him, "I do. I'd just wish we'd see you more. Martha's been asking bout you."  
"How is she doing, by the way?"  
"She's doing great. Getting better as each day passes."  
"That's great," Leo says sincerely, "when you see her, you must tell her that I say hello."  
"Why don't you tell her yourself? Come over after this whole thing is done with."  
"Done with?" Leo asks, "you seem like you aren't happy, Jeff. This is your daughters' wedding."  
"I know, I know. I am happy for my little Jem, I really am. I just, I don't know. It's that Antoine fellow, something just doesn't sit right with me about him. Can I be honest with you, Leo?" Leo nods his head. "I always thought that it'd be you marrying my daughter."  
"Really?" He asks, eyes going wide.  
"Of course. Anybody that was around the two of you enough knew that there was something between you two. It's just a shame that neither of you acted on your feelings. We all had a betting pool going as to when the two of you would finally buck up the courage. Guess we all lost that one," he chuckles again. "Well, I should probably go and talk to a few of the others. Promise to come around and see Martha?"  
"Absolutely," Leo smiles, "I'll see you then."  
Jeff smiles at him and walks away.

The next hour seems to fly by.  
He meets a few new people.  
He also sees a few of Jemma's family members.  
Many of them are ones he sees as his own family.  
He's talking to one of Jemma's cousins when he sees her.  
She's whispering something into Tripp's ear.  
Then she turns and walks away.  
A smile is on her face.  
He takes a deep breath.  
He knows that it's really no use.  
But he has to say something.  
She has to know.

He excuses himself from his conversation.  
He casually follows her to wherever she is going.  
He sees her go into the bathroom.  
So he stands outside the door and waits.

When she exits the room he is standing there.  
He startles her.  
It takes him a minute to find his words.

"Hey Jem," he says sheepishly.  
"Hi Fitz," she says with a small smile.  
"Thank you Fitz" she smiles. "That means a lot coming from you."  
"Well I mean it. I always saw you getting married."  
"Well now I really am a married woman."  
"Yeah, you are. How much you want to bet that Skye and Ward are next?"  
"I bet you ten times..."  
"...the thing you love most." He finishes with her.  
They both smile.  
"It's been quite a while," she tells him.  
"Yeah, it has been."  
"Have you been good?"  
"I've been managing. No need to ask how you've been, obviously."  
"Obviously," she repeats.  
"Jeff said that your mum's doing better?"  
"Yeah. She's doing much better now than she was the last time I saw her."  
"That's great. Really great. She's a good woman. Deserves to have a healthy life."  
"Yeah she does."  
There's a moment of silence.  
It's not awkward.  
Just quiet.  
"Well," Jemma speaks up, "I should probably get back out there. We're going to be leaving soon. It was nice to see you again, Leo." She calls him by his first name. Something she rarely does.  
"You too," he says back.  
She turns around and starts to leave.  
This is his opportunity.  
Even if it isn't the ideal moment.  
"Jemma wait!" He calls out to her before she can get too far away.  
She turns back to look at him.  
"What is it?"  
"There's something I need to tell you. And you'll probably hate me for saying it now of all times."  
"Oh, Fitz," she shakes her head and smiles, "you know that I could never hate you."  
"Anything is possible." He says sort of quietly.  
"What did you want to tell me?" She asks him.  
"Right," he says, beginning to fidget just a bit, "well this probably isn't the most opportune time to tell you this, seeing as how you just married another man, but I don't think that I can keep if to myself anymore. And everyone else can clearly see it, so why shouldn't I say it?"  
"What are you going on about?"  
He takes a deep breath, "I love you Jemma." He pauses. "I have for a long time, but I never had the courage to tell you."  
"Oh Leo," she sighs sadly, "why did you have to go and tell me that? On my wedding day, too?"  
"I'm sorry, Jem," he says, "like I said. I know it wasn't the best time to say it-"  
"No it wasn't."  
"-but I had to tell you. I had to let you know."  
"Well you picked a helluva time to tell me. If you had told me sooner, maybe things could have turned out differently. But I'm with Antoine now. We love each other."  
"I know," he says before she can continue, "I'm not trying to come between you two, I just, I had to tell you." He pauses. "Well, I should probably be going now. Give Antoine my congratulations please." He says and then walks past her and towards the exit.

He doesn't listen as she calls his name.  
He doesn't stop.  
He doesn't turn around.  
He told her.  
He told her how he really feels.  
He knows that it was of no use, but he needed to.  
He had to let her know.  
And now she does.

He doesn't listen to anyone else as they try to get his attention.  
He just makes his way to his car.  
As he walks away, he feels a single tears escape his eye.

He finally told her.  
But it was too late.

* * *

**So? What did you think? Did I make anyone cry? Let me know your thoughts in a review down below. **

**Also, if you want a sequel of sorts to this, let me know. I've actually already started working on one. **

**Oh, and I'm putting together a special project thing for Chloe. So if you want to know more, just PM me. Thanks! **

**Until next time,  
****Jellybean96 out!**


End file.
